2026 was one for the record books in Colorado for water, according to the Colorado Climate Center's 'Water Year in Review Report' just released on Tuesday.
The report found that this year was Colorado's warmest on record by a substantial margin and also one of our driest. Colorado also recorded its lowest mountain snowpack, straining water resources and contributing to widespread drought.
This year’s climatic conditions had substantial impacts across numerous sectors: from agriculture and wildlife to human health and recreation.
Marty Lenz spoke with Allie Mazurek, Engagement Climatologist with the Colorado Climate Center at Colorado State University, on the findings, and more.
Marty Lenz: It's a very detailed report, but what are some of the highlights and takeaways from that report that we as Coloradans should be aware of and be concerned with?
Allie Mazurek: So this past water year, which started on Oct. 1 of last year and just ended on Sept. 30 of this year, was super memorable for a number of reasons. But by far the biggest story this year was the record-smashing heat. So the 2026 water year was the warmest on record by a substantial margin, and that heat was super persistent throughout the year. In that 12-month period, we saw about 286 days with above-average temperatures at the state level, and that equates to about nine and a half months. So this heat was record-breaking and long-lasting, and it had major consequences for Colorado. The biggest impacts that we saw were for sure on our water supply. So the heat had major impacts on the record-low snowpack we saw. It perpetuated drought issues throughout the state, and then that, of course, translated to impacts on agriculture, rangelands and even wildlife.
Lenz: Yeah, you go to any reservoir, any lake, you see that it's not at capacity to do any kind of skiing. At least last year, you knew that there wasn't a lot of snowpack as well. So, Allie, the drought is the big story. Can you talk more about the conditions that we are seeing and experiencing?
Mazurek: We know in general that most of Colorado's water comes from our mountain snowpack, and this year we saw snowpack that was well below what we would normally see. So, the snowpack this year peaked at only about 51% of average statewide. So we only saw about half of what we would normally see in an average year in Colorado. And so snowpack is really important because it eventually melts and flows down our rivers and into reservoirs. And this year we saw that our streamflows and reservoir levels were well below average throughout the state. Our biggest reservoir in the state, Blue Mesa, was at record-low levels this year. So this kind of lack of water availability from our mountain snowpack, alongside below-average precipitation that we consistently saw throughout the year, really exacerbated these widespread extreme drought conditions throughout the state. And we're still seeing a lot of those major deficits even now.
Lenz: Does the season or time of year matter when we get our precipitation and moisture, and does it matter in what form it comes? Is it more important, more impactful if we get the precipitation as snow or as rain?
Mazurek: It's a great question. And Colorado has what we call a semiarid climate. We will take water almost whenever and wherever we can get it. But our most important water that we see in the state comes from that winter snowpack. So snowpack is particularly helpful water because it's much less — we like to call it less flashy — than precipitation. It kind of melts off slowly and gradually during late spring and early summer. Whereas when we have a thunderstorm or something, that often brings that water very hard and fast. That snowpack is kind of more beneficial in many cases than that liquid precipitation. However, where you are and what your goals are also matter, too. A ski operator might care about precipitation at a much different time of year than a rancher in eastern Colorado might.
Lenz: So on that note, Allie, does region matter when it comes to where we get our precipitation? Was there a part of Colorado that's been more impacted by the drought, or has it kind of been the peanut butter approach throughout the state, where it's just dry everywhere?
Mazurek: Region does matter to some extent. Again, that mountain snowpack is super important water, not just for our mountain areas, but of course, again, that water melts down our rivers and into our reservoirs, which all of us across the state benefit from. But this year, we really did see widespread impacts that affected every corner of Colorado. We saw these impacts range from tourism to agriculture to even just members of the general public trying to keep their backyard gardens green. So this year had significant consequences for our water systems in Colorado, and it's definitely a year that we probably won't be forgetting about anytime soon.
Lenz: Are you seeing any trends moving forward for next year, into 2027 and 2028?
Mazurek: That's a great question. So right now we are seeing a strong El Niño in place. Colorado doesn't get affected by El Niño conditions as much as other areas of the world, but in some cases we do tend to see wetter-than-usual conditions when we do have El Niño in place, and there are some positive signs in the seasonal outlooks from NOAA that we might be seeing some above-average precipitation, particularly in the eastern and southeastern parts of the state. So there is some potential hope. But by far, just having El Niño doesn't give us a slam dunk that we'll be seeing above-average precipitation or above-average snowpack this year.
